''Pat Metheny Group'' is the debut album by the

Pat Metheny Group The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating member, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve ...

, recorded in January 1978 and released on ECM in March that same year. The quartet features

Lyle Mays Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awar ...

Mark Egan Mark Egan (born January 14, 1951, in Brockton, Massachusetts) is an American jazz bassist and trumpeter known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group and the Gil Evans Orchestra. He is co-founder of the jazz fusion band, Elements. Biogra ...

, and

Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took lesso ...

Background

Composition and style

Many elements that became defining traits of the band's overall sound were in place on this album, namely Metheny's incorporation of several different guitars and Mays's fusion of electronic and acoustic keyboards to create a fuller, more harmonically sophisticated foundation for the melodies and solos. This is notably evidenced on "Phase Dance" where Metheny introduces the main melody on an acoustic guitar and then switches to electric to play one of the improvisational solos, with Mays providing the foundation on keyboards before playing the other solo. "Phase Dance" quickly became a signature song for the Group, most often played in concert as an introductory piece. "Jaco" is a tribute to

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

, who pioneered the electric bass in jazz fusion.

Track listing

Personnel

Pat Metheny Group

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

– 6-and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars *

– piano, Oberheim synthesizer,

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...

– bass *

– drums

Technical personnel

Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...

– producer *

Jan Erik Kongshaug Jan Erik Kongshaug (4 July 1944 – 5 November 2019) was a Norwegian sound engineer, jazz guitarist, and composer. Career Kongshaug was born in Trondheim, the son of guitarist John Kongshaug. Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) During his ch ...

– recording, mixing * Allen Landau – mastering * Roberto Masotti – photography *

Barbara Wojirsch Barbara Wojirsch (born 1940) is a German graphic designer known primarily for developing the visual style for album covers released by ECM Records. __TOC__ Early life Wojirsch studied painting at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts. A realizati ...

– cover design

Charts

References

{{Authority control Pat Metheny albums 1978 albums ECM Records albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher